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Soh-lah-cee-dee spreads the gospel of renewable energy

By
VINCENT KIERNAN in
WASHINGTON DC

Let the sunshine in . . . this is the dawning of the age of renewable
energy – at least according to Greenpeace, which is spreading the gospel
with an album recorded using solar power. The CD, Alternative NRG, features
16 tracks contributed to the cause by megagroups such as U2 and REM.

Power for the recording and mixing equipment was produced by a custom-built
mobile solar generator, nicknamed Cyrus after the Persian word for Sun.
For tracks recorded live at concerts, a lorry running on alternative fuels
towed Cyrus to the venue.

‘This shows that the barriers to using solar power are not technical,’
says Kate Karam, president of Greenpeace Records. ‘Just imagine what government
or business could do if they tried.’

Greenpeace markets the album as pro-duced exclusively with solar power.
But casting a small shadow on the all-solar CD is ex-Eurythmics star Annie
Lennox, who recorded her track in Switzerland, out of reach of Cyrus. She
used regular electricity. ‘However, all the subsequent mixing and preparation
was solely powered by sunlight,’ says Greenpeace.

The album’s packaging is as green as its music. The CD comes in a cardboard
folder made of recycled fibres. But the CDs themselves were pressed conventionally.
Karam says Cyrus probably could not produce enough power for pressing the
discs. But as far as she is concerned, this is just the dawn of solar-powered
recordings. The group’s next project is a feminist country album.